The Princess and the Clone
by Falco Player
Summary: Peach has always harbored darker thoughts than any would associate with her. The latest newcomer to Smash Mansion, Mewtwo, is a distrustful mind reader. Somehow their meeting resulted in one of the strongest friendships in Smash Mansion. Set during Melee, contains spoilers for Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.


Princess Peach closed her diary, put the lock back on it, and stored it in her locked drawer. All the locks were more for her than to deter any attempted thefts. She took a brush and looked at her reflection as she combed her hair. Peach tried not to picture herself with pale skin or a black dress. She put on her best smile, one that the likes of the Shadow Queen would never make. It didn't look genuine enough to her but she tried to push back her doubt. It needed to be locked away just like the part of her that had allowed the Shadow Queen to possess her.

"I just need some fresh air," Peach told herself. She walked out into the halls of Smash Mansion and closed the door to her room behind her. There was a balcony at the end of the hallway. Peach stepped out onto it, aside from her there was only one other person. Mewtwo, a fellow newcomer, was sitting in one of the chairs. "Here to enjoy the view too?" Peach asked.

"Yes," Mewtwo said. He didn't even turn his head to face Peach. She took the chair at the opposite side of the balcony and looked out at the setting sun. The clouds were a reddish-pink color as the sun started to be obscured by the forest that stretched out behind the mansion. She could see some birds flying while they still had sunlight left. No matter the world Peach always thought the sunset was beautiful.

"Hey Mewtwo, did I do something rude to you? It feels like you've been avoiding me more than you've been avoiding other people. If it's something I did I need to know what it was before I can apologize," Peach said. Their chairs were on opposite sides of the unoccupied couch in the center. She could understand Mewtwo being an introvert and needing his space but she felt there was something deeper to his behavior. There had to be a reason even Ganondorf ate with the other Smashers (including Link and Zelda) but Mewtwo had only been seen in the kitchen or dining room via security camera. One time Peach had knocked on the door to his room when she knew he was inside and Mewtwo had pretended not to be in, Zelda had tried the same thing and got invited inside for a few seconds.

"You're skilled at observing people," Mewtwo said. "I can 'hear' what other people are thinking. So I stay away from people whose thoughts and words don't line up." Peach brought her hand to her face to hide the scowl that had formed on it. She had known somebody would be onto her at some point but she thought it would have been somebody who knew her. Mewtwo had only arrived at the mansion yesterday. Her first thought was to silence him by force. Then she was disgusted with herself. That wasn't a proper thought for a princess. How could she be a role model with a line of thought like that?

"Please don't tell Mario," Peach pleaded. "With everything he's gone through for my sake I can't let him know how I really am. He's fought time and time again to save a pure hearted princess, so that's who I have to be. He doesn't need to know about what I did to Isle Delfino."

"But you did that as retribution for what they did to Mario. I don't see why he would complain about you dealing with one of his enemies," Mewtwo said.

"You're a mind reader aren't you? You should know that Mario isn't a vengeful person. He's too nice to even think about getting revenge," Peach said. In contrast she had responded to a certain rigged trial by sabotaging Isle Delfino until it became a puppet state for the Mushroom Kingdom (that flood Bowser caused had created the perfect opening). In her opinion they should have known better than to completely ignore the testimony of a foreign ruler and expect no consequences.

"If you say so. Listening to other's thoughts all the time would be a waste of energy. So would becoming your enemy. I'll refrain from mentioning this to Mario if that will guarantee your neutrality," Mewtwo said. Peach laughed a little.

"Neutrality? You're not as sinister as you want people to think, are you? Plenty of people would have just used that as a threat to make me cooperate with them."

"All I want is to be left alone. I came here to become strong enough to make anyone comply with that."

"I don't know why you'd want to be alone. Being alone with my thoughts is never fun," Peach said. She put her hands together. When she was with others it was easy to act kind and caring but the thoughts she had when she was by herself always reminded her of the truth. She was sure that was why the Shadow Queen had been able to possess her.

"There's safety in isolation. My history with others is filled with strife," Mewtwo said.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean your future has to be too," Peach said. Mewtwo didn't respond. They watched the last traces of sunlight fade away in silence.

* * *

The next day Peach saw Mewtwo again in the library. He was sitting at one of the tables and had a large collection of books opened in front of him. Peach had observed in their few encounters that while Mewtwo always levitated in battle he tended to settle for walking on foot in the mansion. "That's a lot of books," Peach commented. Mewtwo looked up at her with a shocked expression that quickly changed.

"I've been having strange visions lately. I was hoping one of these books might have something on it but nothing matches my experience. For a library with multiple world's worth of knowledge that's concerning," Mewtwo said.

"What kind of strange visions?" Peach asked.

"Images that feel like memories yet don't actually appear in my memories and even contradict them," Mewtwo said. Peach put her pinky on her chin, she actually had experienced something similar. Dreams that felt like memories but logically couldn't be memories. Before she could speak someone else answered.

"It's called Reality Bleed." Peach and Mewtwo turned to look, Ganondorf had walked into the library. Peach had always steered clear of him after getting a lengthy warning from Zelda. "I experienced the same thing and spoke with Master Hand about it. Apparently since this is a space that exists between worlds we sometimes get visions and feelings from our counterparts in other worlds. Those images you saw were something the Mewtwo in another world experienced."

"I see. Then I can stop worrying about what I saw. That black haired trainer and his Pikachu are only important to a different version of me," Mewtwo said as he stood up.

"Don't be so quick to ignore it. Knowing what could have been can prove helpful. I've had to reflect carefully on some of the things I've seen thanks to Reality Bleed," Ganondorf said. Peach hadn't heard a single good word about Ganondorf but she wondered if some of them were exaggerated. Would the king of evil admit to self reflection?

"It's someone else's memories, they don't matter to me. There's somewhere I have to go now," Mewtwo said.

"Heading over to the Pokemon Village?" Ganondorf asked. Mewtwo got into a fighting stance. Peach stepped back, Ganondorf looked unfazed. Was this going to be yet another fight she would have to break up?

"How did you learn about it?" Mewtwo demanded.

"Pichu dragged me to it. I won't disturb it so you can back off now. There's nothing for me to gain from harming another world," Ganondorf said. Mewtwo relented and levitated himself off the carpeted floor. Without another word he hurried out of the library, opening and slamming the door shut with telekinesis.

"There's a village just for Pokemon?" Peach asked.

"I don't know why it's called a village. It's more like a sanctuary from what I saw, and Mewtwo is its guardian," Ganondorf explained.

"I see. He must care about the Pokemon there a lot," Peach said. Ganondorf nodded and went to browse the shelves of the library. Peach closed the various books Mewtwo had left on the table. One of them had a picture of Mewtwo on the cover, it was titled 'the history and legacy of Team Rocket' with the author listed as S. Oak. Peach placed that book to the side for later reading.

* * *

It had been a few days since the conversation in the library. Peach had taken her time carefully reading the sections of the book about Mewtwo. Even though the book was written sympathetically towards him Peach wondered how Mewtwo could have handled reading the chapters about himself. It included excerpts from the notes of the Team Rocket scientists which had been difficult for Peach to read. At one point she had to clear her head with a long walk after seeing Mewtwo described as "nothing more than a Pokemon shaped weapon." When she finished the book she sought out Mewtwo.

Peach knocked on the door to Mewtwo's room. There was no response and this time she had a feeling it wasn't just Mewtwo giving her the silent treatment. She had already checked the library. Those were the only two places Mewtwo tended to be in and he wasn't currently in a match. "Maybe he used the transporter to return to his world for a bit," Peach reasoned to herself. She made her way to the first floor where the transporter room was. Pichu rushed out of the transporter room, saw Peach, and ran towards her. He pulled on Peach's foot and pointed at the transporter room before running off. Clearly something had happened.

Nobody else was in the transporter room. Aside from the transporter platform and the console that operated it there was nothing between the sterile white walls. Peach checked the console, coordinates had already been punched in. She set it to activate and stepped on the platform, closing her eyes so the process didn't make her dizzy.

When Peach opened her eyes she was outside. She was in some sort of forest clearing. It was an unfittingly sunny day. There was a river next to her that flowed through the clearing. On the other side of the river a man was tending to an injured Poliwhirl. Peach jumped up and used her magic to float across the river, the man was too fixated on the Poliwhirl to notice. "What happened here?" Peach asked. The man stood up and turned to face Peach. A blue coat hung from his shoulders like a cape.

"You know what Team Rocket is? I thought they had disbanded for good but some remnants attacked this place and captured the guardian. Hurt a bunch of the other Pokemon too. But how do you know about this place?" The man asked.

"You're talking about Mewtwo, right? I'm a friend of his. Where did they take him?" Peach asked.

"Unfortunately I don't know. You know what though, the Pokemon here would be eager to help you search. Name's Wulfric by the way," the man said.

"Thank you, and my name is Peach. I'll find him so you don't need to worry," Peach said. She started to walk towards the trees but then stopped. Poliwhirl was still injured and lying helplessly on the ground. Using white magic to heal always sapped some of her stamina so using it before a fight was risky. "Sorry I nearly forgot," Peach said. She knelt down next to Poliwhirl and let her hands shine with white magic. Poliwhirl triumphantly stood up and jumped back into the river.

"What was that?"

"A little trick passed down in my family. Do any other Pokemon here need healing?" Peach asked.

"Can't say for sure, they all scattered when those Team Rocket goons showed up. You know what, Nurse Joy is already on her way here so you can go on the offensive if you want," Wulfric said. A Phantump came out from behind the trees and approached Peach. "Looks like this guy will even show you the way."

"Thank you," Peach said. She followed Phantump through the trees. Other Phantump appeared alongside it. Eventually they came to a boulder sitting right between two trees. Peach helped the Phantump push it out of the way. A staircase was under where the boulder had been. Peach gathered her courage and walked down the staircase. She wasn't leaving without Mewtwo.

A large rectangular room with walls of steel awaited at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed to exist entirely to create space between the stairs and whatever the door at the opposite end of the room led to. Five members of Team Rocket stood as guards. Upon seeing Peach they pulled out pokeballs and sent out their pokemon immediately: Rhydon, Nidoking, Steelix, Golbat, and a Porygon-2. Peach prepared herself for a long battle.

"This is why you should wait for back up before charging in. No wonder you got kidnapped so much." Peach spun around, Ganondorf had followed her. Pichu ran between his legs and past Peach, growling at the guards as sparks of electricity appeared on the small Pokemon's cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" Peach asked.

"The same thing you are, rescuing Mewtwo," Ganondorf said.

"Why would you-" Peach stopped herself. That wasn't the kind of thing she should be saying to someone who wanted to help.

"You're right, this normally would be out of character for me," Ganondorf said. "Remember what I said about Reality Bleed? I've dreamt of another 'me' from a different timeline, or maybe it was my future self, regardless we had the same life up to a point. That version of me came to reflect on our actions and remember something I forgot. My original desire before I caught sight of the Triforce was to secure a future for my people. I can tell that Mewtwo has a similar wish so I won't tolerate any attempts to destroy it. Leave these fools to me and go ahead. A king of evil can't grant anyone salvation." Dark magic began radiating from Ganondorf's hands.

Peach couldn't think of a proper response so she ran towards the door. An orb of dark magic swatted Steelix away before it could slam into her. Pichu sent a bolt of thunder at Porygon-2 before it could get in Peach's way. The other Team Rocket Pokemon were all too focused on Ganondorf and Pichu to target her. Peach gave a mocking smile to the dumbfounded Team Rocket grunts as she pulled the door open and walked further into their base.

The cold aura of the next room struck Peach before she could even take in its contents. It was a smaller circular version of the last room. In the center was a clear glass cylinder that held Mewtwo suspended in some kind of liquid. Some Team Rocket grunts were manning control panels near it. The apparent leader of the group was standing in Peach's way. He had green hair that formed what looked like sideways horns on the side of his head and green eyes that held the look of a predator. "Who the hell are you?" He asked.

"That's my question," Peach said.

"Everyone will know it soon enough. I'm Proton, current leader of Team Rocket. With our old weapon back in our hands we'll be back on the news and then Giovanni will finally return. Now get out or else." Peach clenched her fists and met his eyes with a fierce glare. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her parasol, thankful for the holding space spell that had allowed it to fit with room to spare.

"Oh so you're one of those losers who took over the Goldenrod Radio Tower and still couldn't find your precious boss. Maybe he killed himself in shame after seeing how pathetic you were," Peach said. She didn't like being that cruel with her words but she had an idea. Proton was shaking as his eyes narrowed and filled with hatred.

"How dare you bitch. They call me the Team Rocket Fortress, I'll stand as long as I need to for the boss to come back. Golbat, Weezing, tear her apart." Proton threw two Pokeballs up in the air and released his Pokemon. The Team Rocket members manning the control panels backed away towards the walls as Peach smirked.

Weezing opened its mouth and sent a stream of poisonous liquid towards Peach. She opened her parasol and blocked it. Golbat swooped down on her and bit her arm. Peach grimaced through the pain and turned as she closed her parasol. The stream of poison slammed into Golbat and sent it off of Peach. Proton's animalistic grin flipped as Peach healed herself with white magic.

"Keep up the assault you weaklings. Kill her before she can heal!" Proton screamed. Golbat made another pass at Peach. She slapped it away. Golbat fired a stinger at Peach. It was blocked by her parasol. Weezing released a thick cloud of smoke that filled the room. There was a flash of light from where Golbat had been and Peach found herself feeling disoriented. Her vision became so blurry she could only feel Golbat sinking its fangs into her. She stumbled back as a poisonous liquid made contact with her skin.

Peach's mind was too jumbled for her to use white magic. She felt around and then flung herself against the wall. Golbat pulled its fangs out and fell back for its own safety. The poison still burned. Peach got on her knees, pointed her parasol upwards and opened it. Her breath quickened as the Pokemon tried to get through her parasol. The parasol itself was enchanted to nullify any damage that came its way so she was safe. Despite remaining in place Peach felt like she was spinning. She had been able to make Proton too mad to strategize but his Pokemon had picked up the slack. Pure defense wouldn't save Mewtwo.

"It's just an umbrella you whelps," Proton screamed. Peach could at least tell where his voice was coming from. Then she remembered how the room was laid out. The wall was right behind her and Proton had been standing in front of Mewtwo's prison. Peach took one hand off of her parasol and took a golf club out of her pocket. It felt like her arm was moving through lava. She forced herself up in one motion right as Golbat and Weezing threw themselves at the parasol. As the Pokemon tried to reorient themselves in the air Peach charged forward. Her vision was still blurry so moving the parasol in front of her face made no difference. With her other hand she held out her golf club. Peach swung the club. The sound of breaking glass echoed throughout the room. Shards of glass tore through her dress and dug into her arm, the parasol kept her face safe. The liquid from the container spilled out by her feet.

"Peach… thank you. It's my turn now," Mewtwo said. Peach dropped her parasol and fell to her knees from the pain of the poison. Mewtwo was hovering in the remains of the container. He held up his hands and a purple aura enveloped Proton and his Pokemon. Proton was thrown to the ground as Golbat and Weezing were thrown into each other and fell to the floor unconscious. Mewtwo descended down to the ground next to Peach. He used his telekinesis to grab a berry from somewhere in the room and gave it to Peach. She bit into the berry, the taste was bitter but she could feel the poison fading from her body. The confusion Golbat had put her into faded as well.

Mewtwo walked over to the fallen leader of Team Rocket. He held out his hand and an orb of darkness formed in front of it. "Mewtwo wait," Peach said. Even with the poison gone moving any of her muscles still hurt. "This isn't who you want to be." She forced herself back upright and walked next to Mewtwo.

"Team Rocket has already been disbanded twice, this man was present for both and still continued," Mewtwo said.

"There's other ways to stop someone. He called himself the Team Rocket Fortress. Have you ever heard of a fortress with legs?" Peach asked. Mewtwo let the gathered darkness fade. An outline of purple energy appeared on Proton as the sound of bones cracking and his screams filled the room. Mewtwo lost his balance and tried to steady himself by grabbing onto Peach, instead both of them fell to the ground together.

The door opened and Pichu scampered in, letting out a worried squeak at the sight of Peach and Mewtwo on the floor. Ganondorf walked in behind Pichu. "Good, both of you are alive," Ganondorf said. He bent down and reached out his hands. Mewtwo and Peach rose up with Ganondorf and leaned on him for support. They slowly walked out of the base together. The moment they were outside Ganondorf called for transport back to Smash Mansion and a bright dizzying light manifested around them.

* * *

Hospitals always had a way of making time feel meaningless and Doctor Mario's in-mansion clinic had the same effect. Peach wanted to get out of bed but Doctor Mario declared that she needed rest. At least Mewtwo was in bed next to hers to give her company. Though nothing could make her fine with the soul crushing white of the clinic's walls and floor; Not even hearing that the Team Rocket members had all been arrested and given life sentences. "I've been wondering something," Mewtwo said from his bed. "You're strong. So why do I keep on hearing stories about you getting kidnapped without even putting up a fight?" Peach wished she had a window to look out of.

"I don't fight back because it's what I deserve," Peach began. "Magic runs in my family but it was black magic until I was unexpectedly born with white magic. An ancestor of mine cursed the Koopa Clan's land into the unlivable state it's in now, with rivers of magma and infertile soil. If it weren't for that Bowser wouldn't need to take over the Mushroom Kingdom so his aggression against us is completely justified. That's why I can't bring myself to actually fight him."

"And Mario disagrees?"

"I'm not sure if he even knows about that history. I've never asked him because if he didn't know then learning about it might make him regret saving me," Peach said.

"Or he just doesn't care, like me," Mewtwo said. That response wasn't what Peach had expected. "None of that had anything to do with you Peach. How you were born doesn't determine anything about what you deserve or what kind of person you are."

"I'm not a good person. I'm sinister enough that even with my white magic I was the perfect vessel for an ancient evil," Peach said.

"But it isn't in you now. Do you think I haven't killed of my own will before?" Mewtwo asked. Peach thought back to the book. It said only few had survived Mewtwo's escape from Team Rocket. "You saved me and you convinced me to show mercy. I know what an evil human is like and you aren't one."

"I told you to break that man's legs," Peach said.

"Pragmatic mercy is still mercy," Mewtwo said. Peach had a feeling they could spend a long time arguing in circles around each other. Besides now that she thought about it arguing against a compliment was somewhat rude.

"Thank you, Mewtwo. For believing in me." Peach laid back in her bed and closed her eyes. She wondered what flavor of cake Mewtwo would like best.


End file.
